Didn't know, until she was gone
by xaprilshowersx
Summary: An event that takes just a second to happen can change lives forever; Puck loses Quinn, Beth loses her mother, the glee club loses a friend. Will they pull together and get through it, or will they fall apart? Mainly Quick&Beth, some Brittana and a little Finchel.
1. Chapter 1

He didn't know that the enchanting smile she'd given him as they passed in the hallway that afternoon would be the last time he ever saw it. He didn't know that when he kissed her that morning as they went to their separate classes that it would be the last time he ever did. He didn't know that the song she sung in Glee Club first period would be the last song she'd ever sing. He didn't know he was going to lose her and he didn't know how much he loved her until she was gone.

He cried when they told him. He cried for what felt like the first time in his life. She was the one person he'd ever truly loved, and when he said truly loved, he meant it. She was the only person in the whole world who could make him feel alive, who could make him smile on the darkest of days. She'd make him laugh til' he couldn't breathe, when she kissed him the earth stood still and every nerve in his body would light on fire. She was the best thing he'd ever had and now she was gone. Ripped away from him. A freak accident. A terrible tragedy. Whatever you want to call it. But that one little thing, that one tiny fraction of a second had taken Quinn Fabray from him and he'd never felt a greater pain in all his life.

That day had started as every other day did. It was a Tuesday which meant Puck and Quinn had school and Beth had nursery. As usual they were running late and as usual it was Puck's fault.

"Come on Puck!" Quinn yelled at him from the bottom of the stairs "Beth has to be at Nursery in 10 minutes!"

"Okay, okay I'm going as fast as I can!" He called back. Once again he'd managed to misplace his cell phone and as he scanned his cluttered bedroom for it, he tried desperately to remember what the hell he'd done with it.

"What are you looking for?" she called, sounding more impatient by the second.

How did she do that? How did she know he was looking for something? If he believed in all that psychic mumbo jumbo he'd have sworn she could read his mind.

"My dang cell phone" He called back as he rummaged through his school bag, hoping maybe that he'd already put it in there and forgotten about it. No such luck.

"It's here!" Quinn shouted.

"Where?"

"On the table, where you left it" Her voice was laced with sarcasm and he could imagine the smug smirk he knew would be plastered across her face.

Of course it was. It was only right that it be exactly where he left it and it was only right that Quinn would find it because it was only right that he made himself look like a complete douche in front of his girlfriend and daughter at least 3 times every day, usually more. He cursed himself under his breath for being so dumb and made his way downstairs to where Quinn and Beth were waiting.

Quinn, dressed in her Cheerio's uniform was stood by the front door, her school bag in one hand and a squirming, 11 month old Beth in the other.

"Here, you take her." Quinn said, gesturing towards Beth with her head. "My arm's about to fall off."

Puck smiled as he took his daughter from her mothers' arms and planted a gentle kiss in her soft, blonde curls.

"S'up baby girl, you ready for nursery?" He asked but of course there was no answer. Not that he expected one, Beth wasn't talking yet. She tried, she made sounds that sometimes resembled actual words but she hadn't quite mastered the art of making sense yet, so she just tended to stick to pointing at stuff she wanted. And right now, she was pointing at Quinn, leaning towards her and gurgling something incomprehensible.

"Errr, I think someone wants their Mamma" Puck said, struggling to hold on to his school bag and Beth at the same time. Beth's gurgles were becoming more impatient as she reached desperatley towards Quinn.

Quinn rolled her eyes at Puck's failed attempt to control their daughter but as Beth grabbed hold of the strap of her school bag she couldn't help but take her little girl into her arms once again. Quinn always found it incredibly difficult to say no to Beth. She'd tried it before but then Beth would look at her with those big green eyes and her heart would melt and she'd give in to whatever her daughter wanted. Puck had the same problem only worse. Those eyes could destroy his very soul, turning it into a big pile of lovey dovey mush. And as Beth had her mother's eyes, Quinn had the same effect on him. From the first day he met her Quinn's eyes had made him go weak at the knees and now living in a house with her and another identical set of those moss green eyes, he didn't stand a chance.

Beth giggled happily as she buried her face in Quinn's shoulder and Puck couldn't help but smile. Even if Beth had chosen her mamma over him, he guessed he'd just have to accept that Beth was a mommy's girl. Mind you, looking the way she did, she couldn't really be anything else. Her soft blonde curls matched the colour of Quinn's hair exactly. She had Quinn's eyes, Quinn's nose, Quinn's lips, Quinn's smile. Basically Beth was just a miniature version of her Mamma and Puck thought that was just about the cutest thing he'd ever seen.

Still smiling, Puck moved forward and opened the front door and the little family filed out onto the porch.

"Okay, check list time." He said. They did this every morning before getting into the truck because more often than not, they'd manage to forget something.

"Cell phones?"

"Yep" Quinn replied.

"Spare clothes for Beth?"

"Uh-huh."

"Diapers for Beth?"

"Check"

"School bags, lunch money, glee club sheet music?"

"Yep, yep and yep."

"in that case, I think we're good to go." Puck said, beginning to pull the doors closed behind him.

"Wait!" Quinn said quickly "Do you have the car keys?"

"No, I thought you had them."

Quinn shook her head and raised her eyebrows at him. Why would she have his car keys? Honestly, sometimes she really did worry about him.

"It's always the damn car keys" Puck grumbled as he hurried back into the house to retrieve them from the table in the hallway.

"Car keys, check!" He said, this time actually closing the door behind him. "Now we're good to go."

Quinn smiled as they made their way to the truck. Oh, how she loved her strange and slightly dysfunctional little family.

Puck took Beth from Quinn and put her in her seat in the back of the truck, making sure she was securely strapped in and had something to play with before he shut the door and got into the drivers side. Almost as soon as he did, it started to rain. Not a lot, just a light, misty drizzle that glittered in the sun that was still managing to shine through the clouds. Quinn gazed out of the window and smiled.

"I love it when it rains like that." She said with a happy sigh.

"I don't. It just means that the weather can't make up it's damn mind. I mean, is it raining or is it sunny? It makes no sense." Puck said as he started the engine and pulled out of the little drive way.

"You make no sense." Quinn mumbled under her breath.

"Okay then, so why do you love this freaky weather so much?" He asked, his voice almost mocking.

She thought for a few seconds, continuing to look out of the window. Just then the sun got a little brighter and she beamed as she saw the faint colors of a rainbow beginning to form.

"Because..." She started, answering Puck's question "After the rain, always comes a rainbow."

"Isn't that, like, a metaphor or something?" Puck asked. He was sure he'd heard that saying before.

"Uh-huh" Quinn replied, still looking up at the rainbow as its colors started to get brighter. "It's a metaphor for life. It means that when things get bad, if you keep trying, never giving up, things will always get better." She smiled at Puck, pleased with her explanation and he smiled back. She was so cute when she did that "deep meanings" stuff.

"You see the pretty rainbow, Beth?" Quinn said, turning around in her seat to smile at their daughter. Beth giggled happily, despite probably not having a clue what her mamma was talking about. But Quinn didn't care, Beth's laugh was enough to make her whole world a little brighter, whether she was laughing for the right reasons or not.

10 minutes later Puck pulled the truck into the Sunnyside Daycare parking lot and he and Quinn prepared themselves for their least favourite part of their day. Saying goodbye to Beth. They hated leaving her all day, feeling forever guilty about the whole situation but there was nothing else they could do. Quinn's parents refused to have anything to do with their granddaughter and Puck's mom worked all day at the hospital, so daycare was their only option. Beth didn't mind going, she never fussed or cried but still, leaving her in the care of someone other than the two of them never failed to put them on edge.

"You want me to take her?" Puck asked. He knew Quinn didn't like that job.

"How about we take her together today?" Quinn asked hopefully. For some reason today, she wanted to spend as much time with Beth as possible.

"You sure? We're already running late."

"I'm sure." She said, smiling a little. "What d'you think Beth? Want mommy and daddy to take you in today?"

Beth responded with a high pitched squeal and a little giggle. Quinn laughed too.

"See, even Beth thinks it's a good idea." She said as they both got out the truck and Quinn collected Beth and her baby bag from the back seat.

"I got it." Puck said, taking the bag from Quinn. He locked the truck behind him before their little family made their way into the daycare center

"Good morning guys." called a happy voice from inside the play room. It was Miss Suzie, Beth's favorite nannie. She was plump and loud and full of fun and Quinn and Puck always felt better on days when she was there to take care of their daughter.

"Hi Suzie" Quinn replied as the round brunette reached them.

"And hello there, Miss Beth. You're looking awfully pretty this morning." Suzie cooed at the giggling child in Quinn's arms. "Are you ready to play?"

"She sure is." Puck said as he watched his daughters eyes grow wide as she took in the bright room full of colorful toys and excitable children.

"Well, Beth you say goodbye to mommy and daddy and we'll get started with those building blocks over there!" Suzie said, pressing the end of Beth's nose playfully with her finger which of course made the little girl squeal with delight.

"Okay, baby girl" Quinn said, holding Beth tightly to her "You have fun and mommy and daddy'll be by to pick you up before dinner. I love you." she placed a lingering kiss on the top of Beth's head and breathed in deeply, savoring her sweet, warm scent.

"See you later, kid" Puck said, stepping forward and kissing Beth on one of her rosy cheeks.

Beth gurgled happily as Quinn reluctantly passed her into the arms of Miss Suzie and Puck handed her Beth's bag.

"She has spare clothes and diapers in there." Quinn said, gesturing to the bag on Suzie's shoulder.

"Great!" Suzie replied "We'll see you around 5. Say bye bye, Beth!" She took hold of Beth's hand and made it wave gently at Puck and Quinn who both waved back.

"Bye baby."

"Be good, kid!" They called as they left the play room, hand in hand. Quinn looked over her shoulder, stealing one last look at her daughter who was still smiling and 'waving'. Quinn blew her a quick kiss before they turned the corner and Beth was out of sight.

That was the last time Quinn ever saw Beth. And that was the last time Beth ever saw her Mamma, because later that day only her daddy would be there to collect her. They wouldn't go home for dinner like Quinn had promised, they'd spend the night at the hospital, waiting, praying.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey guys!**_

_**Thanks for the reviews, they're awesome :D Here's the next chapter; more Quick fluffiness and the rest of the glee club make an appearance! Not too sad yet, the next chapter is where that starts to kick in…**_

_**Song – Adele, Make you feel my love.**_

They reached school with two minutes to spare but they still had to run through the parking lot to make it to Glee club on time.

"If Mr Schue's already there, we are so busted!" Quinn said breathlessly as they hurried down the hallway towards the choir room.

"Quinn, we have a kid to look after. I think Mr Schue's gonna understand if we're 30 seconds late." He said, his voice equally as breathless as hers.

"We shouldn't use Beth as an excuse, Puck. When we decided to keep her we knew it was going to be hard but we've had her for almost a year! We can't keep blaming her whenever we're late or tired or behind on our school work!" She said, frustrated at Puck's laid back attitude to the whole world.

"Chill, babe. We're not blaming her, she just gets us out of detention that's all, no harm done." Puck said, trying his best to conceal a smile. He loved winding her up.

She stopped in her tracks and glared at him.

"Well if that's all our daughter means to you, then maybe-"

He cut her off by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

"Babe, I was kidding." He said, smiling, unable to hide it any longer.

"Well it wasn't funny." Quinn mumbled grumpily and hit him lightly on the chest.

Puck dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers, making them tingle. He let his hand mess playfully with the end of her blonde pony and he felt her lips smile beneath his.

"It's not fair when you do that." Quinn said between kisses.

"Do what?" He asked innocently, all though he knew full well what she was talking about.

"Kiss me like that! I can't concentrate! And then I forget I'm supposed to be mad at you and then you end up getting away with whatever moronic thing you did to make me mad in the first place!" She tried her best to sound angry but his soft kisses were clouding her focus and she ended up mumbling most of it whilst his lips continued to graze hers. Eventually she made herself pull away.

"We have to go." She said as Puck tried to kiss her again.

"Ugh, do we have to?" He whined, not caring that he sounded like a disobedient child.

"Yes, we do." Quinn said, but she kissed him again, not being able to help herself.

"Guys!" Said a voice they both recognized immediately. It was Mr Schue. "Inappropriate, now is not the time or the place." He said as he reached them.

Quinn quickly stepped out of Puck's arms, breaking the kiss, and ducked her head in an attempt to hide the blush that she could feel burning on her cheeks.

"Sorry Mr Schue." She mumbled quietly, entirely embarrassed by the whole situation. She was president of the Celibacy club for goodness sake and here she was, stood in the middle of the school hallway, making out with her boyfriend for the whole world to see! She was so not worthy of her celibate title.

"Yeah, sorry Mr Schue. It's that Cheerio's uniform, it just does something to me and I can't help myself!" Puck said dramatically, comically fanning himself with his hand.

"Puck!" Quinn snapped angrily and she hit him on the chest yet again, only this time a little harder.

"Ow!" He said, pressing his hand to where she'd hit him, even though it hadn't hurt in the slightest. She responded with another icy glare.

"Sorry, Mr Schue. Again." Puck said quickly in the hope that his apology would make Quinn a little less mad at him.

"Don't worry about it guys." Mr Schue said to the young couple "Just save it for after school in future, okay?"

"Okay" They mumbled together as they turned the corner that would lead them to the choir room.

Puck slipped his arm around Quinn's waist as they walked.

"I meant it, you know?" He whispered in her ear.

"Huh?"

"You seriously do look smoking hot in your Cheerio's uniform." He said quietly.

A smile played with the corners of Quinn's lips and she rolled her eyes at his flirty ways.

"Whatever." She said and he pulled her a little closer and kissed the top of her head before opening the door to the choir room and holding it open for her.

"Thanks" She said out of habit.

"You're welcome."

They took the two seats nearest the back of the little room and sat as close to each other as they could get. Having Beth 24/7 had made them appreciate the alone time they had together a lot more than they used to, so when they were in school they tended to make the most of each other's uninterrupted company.

Puck draped his arm lovingly around her and she rested her head on his warm shoulder as the rest of the glee club sang and chattered excitably around them.

Today was the beginning of the Glee clubs monthly Girls against Boys competition and this morning was the turn of the girls. After Mr Schue had given them the briefing ("Songs that mean something to you") the girls - well Rachel mostly- had decided on doing their version of Adele's 'Make you feel my love".

At first Quinn was pissed that Rachel had taken over song selections but when Rachel suggested that Quinn sing the lead, she didn't mind so much. They'd been rehearsing non-stop for the past week, determined to beat the boys, but now the time to perform had arrived, Quinn only really cared about not forgetting the words. Luckily for her though, there was no choreography to contend with as well, so she could fully concentrate on the lyrics.

"I can't wait to hear you sing." Puck whispered in her ear and she smiled gratefully at him before stretching up to kiss him again, Mr Schue's previous words forgotten.

"Good morning guys!" Mr Schue said brightly as he entered the choir room and once again Quinn and Puck were caught mid-kiss.

"Guy's enough with the PDA already!" He said sternly as he spotted the pair making out in the back row.

They pulled apart as the rest of the glee club turned to look at them, trying their best to control their giggles and Quinn felt the blush rise in her cheeks for the second time in 5 minutes.

"Sorry." They mumbled together, though neither of them really were. The kiss had been sweet and soft and it was safe to say they'd both enjoyed it as much as each other, despite the interruption.

Mr Schue spoke for a while, rambling about nothing in particular and Puck tuned out, distracted by the gorgeous blonde that leaned gently against his side. God, he loved that girl. She was playing absent mindedly with a frayed piece of cotton on the hem of her Cheerio's shirt, eyes cast down so the astonishing length of her golden eyelashes was obvious. She smiled at something Mr Schue had said and as the little dimples formed below her high cheek bones, Puck had to fight with everything in him to stop himself from kissing her again and again and again.

"Ladies, if you'd like to take your places." Mr Schue said and Puck's thoughts returned to the real world as Quinn got up from her seat, smoothing her skirt out as she did. Puck touched her hand.

"Go get 'em, babe." He said quietly with a wink and Quinn responded with a shy smile before making her way to the front of the room. The rest of the girls followed. The AV team had set up enough stools for each of them and they filed into their correct places in the line of silver seats. Quinn sat in the middle, Brittany and Santana on either side of her, followed by Mercedes, Rachel and Tina.

"Whenever you're ready, girls." Mr Schue said encouragingly.

Quinn took a shaky breath. Despite being in a room full of friends, she still got nervous about singing in front of people.

"Just before we start," she said softly, looking up at the room from under her eyelashes "I wanted to say how much Noah has helped me through this past year. I don't think I could have done it without him, so thank you." She looked at him with those eyes and if he hadn't been so badass he thought he might have cried.

"This song is for you...and Beth." She gave him a small smile, not sure how he felt about her unexpected speech but judging by the glowing smile that was spread across his face, she guessed he kinda liked it.

She nodded at the band, telling them she was ready, and the soft music started up. Quinn locked her eyes with Puck's and held them there throughout the whole song.

_When the rain is blowing in your face_

_And the whole world is on your case_

_I could offer you a warm embrace_

_To make you feel my love._

As she sang, the lyrics felt so relevant, she struggled not to cry

_When the evening shadows and the stars appear_

_And there is no one there to dry your tears _

_I could hold you for a million years_

_To make you feel my love._

The rest of the girls joined in for the chorus and the boys watched silently, mesmerized by the simplicity of their performance. Puck was completely in awe of Quinn and in that moment he thought his heart might just explode with the love he felt for her, even if that was incredible soppy and so not badass.

The last verse, Quinn sang so softly it was almost a whisper.

_I can make you happy, make your dreams come true_

_Nothing that I wouldn't do_

_Go to the ends of the earth for you_

_To make you feel my love_

_To make you feel my love._

As soon as the music ended, the boys and Mr Schue erupted into loud cheers and wolf whistles while the girls smiled happily at each other, pleased with how well their performance had gone.

"Quinn Fabray, you are all kinds of awesome." Santana said as the other girls congratulated each other. Quinn had gotten really close to both Santana and Brittany in the last few months and she now considered them to be her best friends once again, aside from Puck of course.

"Thanks San." She said with a smile "You aren't too bad yourself."

Santana scoffed at her.

"I'm just as awesome as you are Fabray, and you damn well know it."

Quinn laughed at her feisty friend and pulled her in for a playful hug and then she noticed Brittany standing beside them, looking a little confused so she pulled her in too and the three Cheerio's laughed together, all though not one of them knew why they were laughing or what they were laughing at. But they didn't care. It was fun.

"Ladies!" Mr Schue said proudly "Awesome job! Especially you Quinn, those vocals were beautiful." He patted Quinn on the back and she smiled gratefully at him.

"You've got yourselves some serious competition there, boys." Mr Schue said as the girls made their way back to their seats.

As soon as Quinn sat down, Puck pulled her in for a tight hug and he kissed the top of her head several times.

"Not bad for a Cheerio." He whispered sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at him but she couldn't stop the corners of her lips turning up into a soft smile and she lifted her head and kissed him on the cheek before Mr Schue started speaking again.

"Okay, so next week the boys are going to attempt beating the girls with their version of..." He pointed to Finn, signaling for him to reveal the guy's song choice.

"Grenade, by Bruno Mars!" Finn announced proudly "We er, we chose this song because it's about grenades and we all play X Box, so we kind of figured that firing grenades at cartoon people was something we all had in common, so this song just seemed appropriate."

The other boys nodded enthusiastically in agreement whilst the girls groaned and rolled their eyes.

"That's stupid." Santana exclaimed "How the hell can a song about grenades mean something to you? God, you're all so immature!"

The boys were quick to defend their song choice, bickering back and forth with Santana about the importance of X Box and how practicing their fighting skills meant something to them. All the boys had something or other to say about it, except Puck who kept quiet and in that instant Quinn knew that "Grenade" had not been his first choice. She wondered what _had been_ his first choice but she never got around to asking him because Mr Schue began shushing the noisy group once again.

"Guys! Enough! The boys have chosen their song and that's that. No more discussion on it, understood?"

"Yes Mr Schue" The group mumbled quietly. Apart from Santana, that is. She sat with her arms folded, lips pouted and generally looking pissed at the whole situation, but hey, Santana was always pissed at someone or something so no-one really took any notice.

The bell rang.

"Okay guy's, that's it for today. See you the same time tomorrow."

As soon as Mr Schue had finished speaking the group started up the chatter and gossip once again, standing around in little groups, avoiding going to their next lessons for as long as possible, Quinn and Puck included. Glee club was the only lesson they had together that day, which meant they were going to be separated for the next 5 hours! Usually they would have met up at lunch but Puck had football practice and Quinn had a Celibacy Club meeting.

And then to top it all off, they both had to stay at school for an extra hour because Quinn had Cheerio's practice and Puck had more football practice. They were not looking forward to the rest of the day, so they lingered in the choir room with the rest of the group until Mr Schue finally ordered them to get out.

The group moved slowly out of the choir room, still chatting and Puck began to walk Quinn to her next class, which wasn't so bad because it was English, Quinn's favorite 'non-Glee club related' lesson.

"Well, here we are." Quinn said as they stopped in front of the classroom door.

"Yep, here we are." Puck said flatly. He hated this part. It was almost as bad as leaving Beth at nursery.

Quinn turned to face him and he slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. She reached up and put her arms around his neck before kissing him on the lips, softly at first but as his hands moved up and down her back the kiss deepened and she moved her hands to the sides of his face, holding it in place. They stayed like that for a few minutes, completely wrapped up in one another but as the hallway started to clear Quinn forced herself to pull away.

"I love you." She said as she stepped out of his arms.

"I know you do." Puck said with a smug smirk. Quinn rolled her at him before opening the classroom door.

"Quinn?" He called, just before she walked in.

"Yeah?" She turned to look at him.

"I love you too."

She smiled at him before turning away.

He watched from the doorway as she made her way to a seat at the back of the room, next to Santana and Brittany, before pulling his eyes away from her and continuing down the hallway to his Biology class.

That was the last time Puck ever kissed her, and thinking back on it now, he thanked God that they'd taken their time getting to that next lesson because if they hadn't he wouldn't have had that final kiss to remember.

For Puck, the rest of the school day passed in a dull blur of pointless lessons and unnecessary small talk, the highlight of the day being when he passed Quinn in the corridor on the way to after school football practice.

They'd been too far away from each other to be able to speak and Quinn was caught up in a sea of Cheerio's so she couldn't stop but the smile that she'd given him before he lost her in the mass of red and white uniforms had been one he knew he'd never forget. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him and her lips stretched widely across her perfect teeth, forming dimples in her cheeks.

Puck's breath caught in his throat but she was gone before he even got the chance to smile back.

He continued to walk, and still a little dazed by her beauty, he managed to crash into a nerd as he turned into the boys locker room and spent the next hour of football practice longing for the time to come when he could see her again.

And then his whole word came crashing down. In one phone call his life fell apart and he was changed forever.


	3. Chapter 3

_**New chapter! It's a little shorter so sorry about that, I got kinda busy with school and stuff but I'll try and make the next one longer **_

_**Oh and I kinda lose track of the days so am I updating too fast? Too slow? I'm not sure, but if you could let me know, that'd be awesome!**_

He and the rest of the team had just returned to the locker room after sixty minutes of vigorous training and it was safe to say they were all pretty tired. Puck had just pulled off his helmet and shoulder pads when he saw his cell phone light up and it began to buzz. He picked it up and frowned at the call ID. It was Santana. Why the hell was Santana calling him?

"S'up bitch." He said brightly into the cell.

"Puck?" Santana's voice was slightly breathless. She sounded upset. Was she crying?

"What Santana? Are you okay?" He asked, slightly put out by the sound of her voice.

"It's Quinn." She blurted quickly, she was definitely crying. "There's been an accident. We're at the hospital."

"San, what the fuck are you talking about? Is this a wind up? Because I swear if it is-"

Santana cut him off.

"No Puck!" She snapped. "This is serious! You need to get Beth and get to the hospital right now." Her voice had risen so much that Puck almost had to hold the phone away from his ear. He knew something was seriously wrong.

"What the fuck happened!" He yelled back, causing the rest of the team to turn and look at him.

"I'll explain later, just get here!" She was almost hysterical now "And please Puck, hurry!" The last part was almost a whisper and then she hung up.

Puck froze for a second or two before his brain kicked in to 'frantic' mode. He grabbed his car keys from the bench and bolted towards the door.

"Dude, what is it?" Finn called after him.

"Quinn's in the hospital!" He called over his shoulder before sprinting as fast as he could through the school and into the truck.

His hands were shaking and he fumbled with the key in the ignition before the engine finally roared to life.

As Puck sped through the town, his mind ran wild, exploring every possible situation. The best and the worst and judging by Santana's hysterical phone call, whatever had happened didn't sound promising.

He dumped the truck outside of Beth's daycare and ran inside, not even bothering to lock the doors behind him.

Beth was playing happily with Miss Suzie when he burst into the little playroom. She smiled when she saw her daddy rushing towards her and giggled when he scooped her up into his arms.

"Hey baby." He said, kissing her head before turning to Miss Suzie who looked a little worried.

"There's been an accident." he explained as quickly as he could. "It's Quinn, we have to get to the hospital."

He didn't even give the plump woman time to reply before he turned and jogged out of the room.

"What about Beth's bag?" He heard Suzie call but he ignored her. Beth would have to go without her spare clothes for now.

With Beth safely buckled into her seat, Puck raced down the main road towards the hospital, running every red light he came across, a panicky sweat beginning to form on his brow.

Once again he dumped the truck into the nearest parking space her could find, grabbed a fidgety Beth and ran into the hospital, only stopping to look for the closest information desk.

"Quinn Fabray." He said breathlessly to the grey haired woman behind the desk. "Where is she?"

"Are you a family member?" The woman asked in a voice so calm Puck wouldn't have been surprised if she'd fallen asleep in front of his very eyes.

"I'm her boyfriend, and this is our daughter." He said gesturing to the squirming child in his arms.

"Very well." said the woman. "She's up on the IC Unit."

"Thanks." Puck mumbled but he was already walking briskly towards the stairs.

The woman's words rang in his ears. "The IC Unit." Shit. Shit. Shit. His fears of the worst situation were becoming more and more likely to be true.

He followed the right signs for what seemed like forever and by the time he burst through the doors labeled "ICU" it was safe to say he was more than a little out of breath and Beth had begun to cry, sniffling and whimpering unhappily in his arms.

About half way down the hall he spotted the familiar red of the Cheerio's uniform and made his way towards it.

Santana had her head buried in her hands and Brittany was rubbing her back comfortingly, all though her face too was stained with tears. Santana looked up at the sound of Puck's heavy shoes and Beth's miserable tears.

"Puck!" She said, standing up and moving towards him "What the fuck took you so long!"

Puck barely heard her.

"Where is she?" he demanded, looking past Santana at the rest of the hallway.

"Puck, I-" Santana started but he cut her off again.

"_Where_ is she?" He raised his voice, the frustration in it becoming increasingly obvious.

Santana burst into tears and Brittany stood up and put her arm around the broken brunette.

"She's in surgery." Brittany answered for Santana. "There was an accident after Cheerio's practice. Santana saw what happened, that's why she's so upset." The ditzy blonde said flatly as Santana continued to cry in her arms.

Puck had never seen Santana cry before so the fact that she was so hysterical now made his head spin with worry, so much so that he had to sit down. He wanted to ask what had happened, wanted to know more but his brain wouldn't function and he couldn't speak.

Beth's cries turned to screams and he held her close, trying his best to comfort her, despite the fact that on the inside, he could feel himself falling apart.

Santana sat down beside him, still sniffling and wiping her eyes.

"How bad is it?" Puck finally managed to say but his small voice was drowned out by Beth's screams. Santana heard him but she didn't answer. Instead she dropped her eyes to the floor, unable to look at him. Brittany did the same.

He asked again, louder this time and Santana drew in a shaky breath before finally mustering up the courage to look up at him.

"It's pretty bad." She said so quietly that Puck had to strain his ears to hear her. "The doctor said something about internal bleeding and how the surgeons needed to stop it straight away, otherwise..." She trailed off, not being able to say what she was thinking out loud.

"Otherwise she might die." Puck said flatly. He was able to say it because the reality of the situation had yet to hit him. He refused to believe that this was happening to him, to them. In his head it was someone else, a horrible nightmare and he'd wake up any second to find Quinn safe and sound, sleeping peacefully beside him. But deep down, he knew he might lose her. Nobody had to tell him that. He felt it, felt her slipping, he just wasn't ready to admit it yet.

"Tell me what happened." He said numbly, staring straight ahead of him.

"Puck, I don't think you should-" Santana started, obviously not wanting to upset him with the details, but he needed to know.

"Tell me." He demanded, glancing at the brunette beside him. She was pale, her eyelashes wet with fresh tears and she sighed heavily, giving in to his request.

_**Thanks for reading! All will be revealed about "the accident" in the next chapter so stay tuned…**_

_**If you want to, review and let me know what you thought!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey guys!**_

_**Here's chapter 4, enjoy!**_

_45 minutes earlier._

Cheerio's practice had finished half an hour early because Coach Sylvester had some sort of meeting she couldn't miss. This rarely happened, practice usually ran late if anything and normally Santana, Brittany and Quinn would have taken advantage of this luxury and gone on a speedy shopping spree but unfortunately all three of them were relying on the guys who were on the football team to give them a ride home. Looked like a trip to the mall was out of the question.

"Okay." Santana said as she threw her pompom up in the air and caught it for the tenth time in a row. "This sucks. We NEED to do something other than sit in this damn locker room and wait around for the guys."

It was true, they'd been sat on the bench in the girl's locker room for the past ten minutes, doing nothing but staring blankly at the wall before them. Brittany was humming mindlessly to herself and Quinn had taken to counting the clothes pegs attached to the wall in front of her. There were 24. Pegs that is.

"We could play a game?" Brittany suggested, staring up at the ceiling.

Quinn and Santana rolled their eyes simultaneously at the childish mind of their ditzy friend.

"Or, we could just go to the Lima Bean." Quinn said, suddenly all too aware of her need for caffeine. "We should have time to get there and back before the boys finish, if we hurry."

The well-known coffee shop was just around the corner and across the main road. It would take them 15 minutes to get there and back, 10 if the shop was quiet.

"Fabray, that's the best idea I've heard all day." Santana smiled deviously at her more intelligent blonde friend.

"Hey! What about my game idea?" Brittany said, looking offended.

The other girls ignored her comment and got to their feet.

"Come on Britt." Quinn said pulling her up from her position on her bench. "Let's go get us some coffee."

It was cold out. Colder than Quinn remembered it being that morning and the three girls huddled together as they walked, trying their best to keep warm, all though the short length of their little skirts made it quite difficult to do so and by the time they were half way there Quinn's teeth were chattering so loud Santana and Brittany laughed at her.

"Q, it's really not that cold." Santana said to her dithering friend.

"Yes it is. I swear it's gonna snow."

"It's not Quinn." Brittany said. "It only snows at Christmas, and as far as I know, it's not Christmas yet."

"Bee has a point." Santana said "It's October, just. The leaves haven't even fallen off of the trees yet so somehow I seriously doubt it's gonna snow."

"Whatever." Quinn replied, picking up her pace a little as they turned the corner. In her opinion, the quicker they got into their inside and out of the cold, the better.

As they neared the main road the girls broke into a soft jog because the walk had taken them longer than they'd thought and they were worried that the boys might think they'd made their own ways home and leave without them.

"I swear if Puck goes without me, there's going to be serious trouble." Quinn said breathlessly as their jog turned into a proper run.

They reached the main road and Quinn smiled at the sight of the welcoming looking coffee shop on the other side. Brittany and Santana were a few steps behind her but she didn't care. She stepped out into the empty road.

"Wait," Brittany called "I dropped my purse!"

Quinn looked over her shoulder at them. Brittany was scrabbling around on the floor, collecting the few coins that had dropped out onto the sidewalk. Santana was watching her, hand on her hips and foot tapping impatiently.

A car hidden by the bend in the road honked it's horn and Quinn watched as Santana's gaze switched to look at the road. Quinn saw the Latina's eyes widen and she knew what was about to happen but she stood still, frozen to the ground as the car honked again and the squeal of breaks filled the air.

"Oh my God! Quinn! Move!" Santana screamed, leaving Brittany and sprinting towards Quinn, but it was too late.

The large car, still travelling at 40mph despite its desperate attempts to break, ploughed into the small blonde, throwing her into the air. Quinn screamed as she hit the bonnet, the sound ripping through Santana who stood watching, holding her breath, unable to do anything else. The car spun and skidded a little way down the road and Quinn's body lay lifelessly on the ground.

"Oh my God." Santana said again, only this time more to herself than anyone else. Brittany stood up beside her, her expression blank apart from the flash of fear in her eyes. The two girls stayed that way for what seemed like forever but couldn't have been more than a few seconds and then Santana's brain began to work again and she sprinted towards her friend, closely followed by Brittany.

A few pedestrians had stopped and were stood staring, whispering worriedly to one another as Santana dropped to her knees beside Quinn. Her face was pale and her eyes were closed, like she was sleeping. Her tight pony had come loose and her golden hair fell around her shoulders and onto the grey road beneath her head.

"Quinn?" Santana said shakily, not noticing until then that she was crying. "Quinn?" She touched Quinn's shoulder but the blonde stayed still. No flicker in her eyes, no twitch in her lips. Nothing.

She grabbed her cold wrist and felt for her pulse like her dad had taught her when she was young. She panicked when she couldn't find one, pressing desperately into Quinn's smooth skin. She switched wrists and sighed with relief when she felt the steady beat of blood thrumming through Quinn's body. It was faint, not as strong as it should be, but it was there.

Brittany knelt down beside her.

"Is she dead?" The other blonde asked tentatively, like she was afraid of the answer.

Santana shook her head, unable to speak, not once moving her eyes from Quinn's serene face. There wasn't a scratch on her, no blood, not even any dirt or mud. If Santana hadn't just witnessed what had happened she would have argued that the beautiful girl who lay before her was just sleeping, that she'd wake up any minute, right as rain. But she didn't.

She didn't stir when people started crowding around them, eager to see what was causing such a fuss. She didn't bat an eyelid when Santana brushed some blonde curls back from her face. She didn't move when the sound of sirens screamed down the road towards them and she didn't flinch when the paramedics shoved needles in her arms and bustled her on to a stretcher and into the ambulance.

By now, Santana and Brittany were stood back, watching helplessly with the rest of the onlookers as the paramedics collected up their things and prepared to take Quinn to the hospital. Brittany slipped her hand into Santana's and they stood in silence, neither of them able to speak until a dark haired paramedic approached them.

"Would you like to go with her in the ambulance?" the petite woman asked, obviously realizing that the two girls were friends of Quinn's.

They nodded together.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Santana asked, though her voice was barely a whisper.

The paramedic avoided her eyes as she spoke.

"We're doing everything we can to help her." was all she said before she ushered the two shell shocked Cheerio's into the ambulance and seated them opposite the stretcher that held Quinn.

The journey was silent, aside from the constant, high pitched beeping coming from the machine that was linked up to Quinn's heart. Santana held the unconscious blonde's cold hand in her own, but it was limp and weak and the tears continued to roll silently down the Latina's cheeks. Brittany stared straight ahead of her, unable to look at Quinn, scared that if she did, the situation would become all the more difficult to deal with than it already was.

"And when we got to the hospital, they rushed her straight into surgery and told us to wait here. And then I called you, and now here we are." Santana finished as she wiped her eyes groggily. She was exhausted.

"Here we are." Puck said flatly. He was numb. He couldn't cry. He wouldn't. Not yet. Not while there was still a chance that she might still be...okay.

He stroked Beth's soft curls. Her screams had turned to soft sniffles and she rested her head sleepily against her father's chest.

"But Quinn's strong." Santana said, determination in her voice. "She's Quinn fucking Fabray for God's sake. She can handle anything, right Puck?" She turned to him, looking for some sort of reassurance, but he didn't even blink.

She reached out to touch his leg but he pulled himself away from her and stood up hastily. He began moving slowly up and down the hallway, rocking a still miserable Beth gently in his arms, singing soft lullabies in an attempt to comfort her.

He could feel his heart breaking and thinking back on it now, he felt like he'd already lost her. There was a huge hole forming inside of him and no matter how many people told him she was gonna be okay, he could never quite bring himself to believe it.

Beth must have felt it too because she continued to cry and fuss, never once stopping to take a nap like she usually did.

Half an hour later, word had gotten round about Quinn and the whole Glee club had turned up at the hospital. Puck was touched that they all cared so much about Quinn but at the time he couldn't even recall saying a single word to any one of them. He didn't have anything to say.

For the next hour everyone sat anxiously in the hallway, waiting. Santana had fallen asleep on Brittany and she stroked the brunette's hair comfortingly. Despite her bitchiness, Puck somehow managed to feel sorry for the Latina. If he'd have seen what she did, he doubted he'd still be able to function at all. He was coping, for now, though not knowing anything was driving him crazy but he admired Santana for being so strong. But he'd never tell her that.

Rachel and Finn were wrapped up in a deep, whispered conversation a few seats away from where Puck was sat. Every now and then he'd catch one of them giving him a worried look but he'd ignored each one, concentrating on trying to keep Beth calm. She was growing tired and she fidgeted miserably in his arms, fighting the sleep he could see was slowly pulling her under. Her little nose was red from sniffling so much and her golden eyelashes were still wet from her most recent bout of tears.

Puck stroked her cheek, wishing he could make her feel better. Wishing he could make everything better, but they still hadn't heard anything. In fact they hadn't even seen anybody else. No nurses, no doctors, nobody.

Artie, Sam, Kurt, Mike, Tina and Mercedes had gone on a coffee run and the hallway seemed empty without them. Puck was left alone with his thoughts. A dangerous place to be. What exactly would he do without her? He'd be left alone with their child, with only 11 months experience to his name. It had taken him two of those months to learn how to put a diaper on properly! What if Beth got sick? What should he do? Quinn would know, she always knew. And then there was school and homework and sleepovers and birthday parties. He didn't know anything about that sort of stuff. And what about Beth's first boyfriend? How would he cope with that without Quinn being there to guide him through it?

As his mind raced he could feel himself teetering on the edge of hysteria and he looked desperately around the dull corridor, searching for something he could think about. Anything other than Quinn and the horrible nightmare he was trapped in.

He read a poster.

"Avoid STD's. Use protection."

Huh. Before he'd got together with Quinn he was well aware of pretty much every STD out there. Saying he slept around was an understatement.

How times had changed.

_**Okay, so what did you think about the accident? And more importantly, what do you want to see happen next? I'd love to incorporate some of your ideas into the next few chapters!**_

_**Reviews would be really helpful! **_

_**Much love! x**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hi guys!**_

_**New chapter, there's a flash back in this one involving another hospital visit! Let me know what you think!**_

_**Reviews are really helpful **_

His thoughts were interrupted when Beth began to stir in his arms. In the end she'd cried herself to sleep and since then she'd been dead to the world, she hadn't even stirred when Finn had tripped over one of the chairs in the hallway, sending it crashing noisily onto the hard floor. Normally Puck would have found Finn's constant clumsiness rather amusing but considering the current circumstances he'd failed to find any humor in the incident what so ever. Neither did anybody else because they all laid into him for not concentrating on where he was walking. Poor guy.

Beth let out a little gurgle and her eyes fluttered open, revealing the delicate shade of moss green. For a second, Puck thought he was looking into Quinn's eyes and his breath momentarily caught in his throat before he got a hold of himself and smiled at his little girl.

"Hey, baby." he said quietly "You enjoy your nap?"

Beth blinked up at him and yawned, her little nose wrinkling as she did. Quinn's nose did that when she yawned too and Puck sighed with the heavy weight of the memory.

"You hungry, kid?" He said as Beth sat up a little and began playing with one of the buttons on his shirt. He wondered when she'd eaten last and he figured it must have been lunch time since he picked her up before dinner. He cursed himself for not thinking about it earlier. Quinn would have thought about it. No way would she have let her daughter go hungry. Jeez, he was such a shitty dad.

"How 'bout we get you a snack?" he said and Beth gurgled in agreement. And then he remembered that he'd left Beth's baby bag back at the nursery, which meant he had no food to give his hungry daughter. He sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes, annoyed at himself for being such a douche.

"Guys?" He said, addressing his fellow glee clubbers. "Don't suppose any of you have any food for Beth do ya? I kinda left her baby bag at the daycare center."

Brittany stared at him blankly, Santana stirred a little in her sleep but didn't wake up and Finn just shrugged his shoulders helplessly. Great, just great. Now his child was going to starve to death and he'd get sent to prison for child neglect. He was being dramatic, he knew that, but he couldn't seem to help it. His brain wasn't functioning properly.

And then Rachel Berry saved him from his own imagination.

"Don't worry. I got it covered." The chirpy brunette said, pulling a pink bag from underneath her chair and bringing it over to where he and Beth were sat.

"What's that?" Puck asked, slightly confused as to why she was dangling a bag he'd never seen before in front of his face.

"A baby bag." Rachel said proudly. "When I heard about Quinn, I knew that you would be in no fit state to think about baby toys and clean diapers. So before I came to the hospital, I packed this bag for Beth. There's diapers, clean clothes, juice, some of her toys, 3 packs of baby biscuits and some grapes." She smiled triumphantly at him but all he could do was blink at her.

How the hell had she gotten into their house?

"How did you-" Puck started but Rachel held her hand up, silencing him.

"You may have forgotten, Noah, that Quinn and I are friends now. I know where you keep your spare key."

It was true, he guessed. Quinn and Rachel were kinda close now, though how anybody could put up with that girl for more than 10 minutes, he had no idea. But if Quinn being friends with Rachel meant that Beth wouldn't go hungry, it was cool with him. All though knowing that Rachel Berry knew where their spare key was kinda scared him and he made a mental note to find it a new hiding place.

Rachel unzipped the pink bag and rummaged around in it a little before pulling out a pack of Beth's favorite biscuits and a sippy cup filled with juice.

She handed Puck the sippy cup and opened the pack of biscuits before holding them out to Beth who took them in one of her little hands, gurgling happily.

"There ya go, cutie. We don't want you going hungry now do we?" Rachel said as Beth took one of the biscuits and began to chew on it quietly whilst watching the brunette with big green eyes.

Rachel smiled at the little girl.

"She's really beautiful, you know." Rachel said, but Puck didn't hear her, he was too busy watching Beth.

"Huh?" he said, finally realizing that she'd spoken to him.

"Beth. She's a very pretty child. Well I suppose with parents looking the way you do, she was hardly going to be unattractive was she?" Rachel rambled in an attempt to make small talk, but Puck's eyes were vacant.

"She looks like Quinn." Puck said flatly. Rachel sighed, she'd wanted to give Puck something other than Quinn to think about because she could see he was struggling to cope but it hadn't worked. Quinn was obviously at the forefront of his thoughts.

"Yeah, she does." Rachel said, a little disappointed with the turn in conversation. She took the seat next to Puck and put her hand softly on his shoulder. Puck flinched at her touch but didn't move away.

"She's going to be okay, Noah. She always is. Remember that time she fell from the top of the Cheerio's pyramid?" Rachel said softly.

Puck did remember. Beth was about 6 months old when it had happened and it had also been the last time Quinn had been in hospital.

The Cheerios were practicing for their next big competition, either Regionals or National's, but as usual Puck couldn't remember which one, despite being told at least 3 million times.

Puck was sat in the bleachers with Finn and Sam, wrapped up in a heated discussion on the graphics of the new Call of Duty game. Football practice had finished early and as usual the Cheerios were running late and as all three boys had to give their cheerleader girlfriends a ride home, they were forced to sit around and wait for them.

"Dude, those graphics are nothing compared to Halo!" Sam exclaimed, causing Finn to jump to COD's defense.

"What? Don't be stupid Sam. COD kicks butt and you know it!" Finn said loudly.

Puck rolled his eyes at the nerds he called friends. As much as he loved X Box, discussing it with those douchebags was not worth it. They didn't have a clue what they were talking about.

He glanced over to where the Cheerios were practicing and smiled as he saw Quinn posing at the top of the pyramid, pompoms in the air, a perfect 'stage smile' plastered across her flawless face.

She must have caught him looking because her fake smile turned into a real one and her focus switched to him. He went to wave but stopped when he saw her legs begin to quiver and the smile drop from her face all together. Fear flashed through her green eyes as her arms flailed helplessly and the other Cheerio's struggled to keep a hold of her.

And then she fell.

Her scream echoed around the otherwise empty football field and the gasps from the other Cheerios were almost as loud.

"Quinn!" Puck yelled, getting to his feet immediately. Sam and Finn must have seen what happened too because they did the same. They watched for a few seconds as a sea of red and white uniforms crowded around the place where Quinn had hit the floor and Coach Sylvester shouted something through her mega phone. Puck held his breath, half expecting Quinn to just bounce back up, dust herself off and carry on but that wasn't the case and he knew it.

He raced down the steps, taking two at a time, Sam and Finn following closely behind him.

"Quinn!" He called again as he reached the field and battled his way through the panicked girls.

Eventually he reached her. She was unconscious, lying on her back, one arm tucked awkwardly underneath her and the other resting on the cold grass beside her. Her pompoms were close by, ruffled and untidy from the fall. Santana was crouched down next to her, calling her name and shaking her shoulder gently. She didn't budge.

"Is she okay?" Puck asked, kneeling down beside the feisty Latina.

"Does she look okay to you, mohawk?" She snapped angrily in between calling Quinn's name.

Puck joined in.

"Quinn? Quinn? Can you hear me?" he asked, putting his hand softly on the side of her face. Her eyes fluttered a little and Puck's breath caught in his throat. "Quinn?" He said again, trying to wake her up properly. She opened her eyes again and Puck smiled down at her.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly as she looked around her, assessing the situation.

"Just great." she whispered and Puck couldn't help but laugh at her. Santana laughed too. Quinn Fabray could be ridiculously funny when she wanted to be, and she didn't half pick her moments.

Quinn let out a quiet giggle but the movement made her wince. Puck silenced his laughter and swapped it for concern.

"What hurts, babe?" He said, checking her body for blood or bruises. Nothing.

"My head." She sighed, closing her eyes again. "And my hand."

"Which one?" Santana asked, the same concern expressed in her voice.

Quinn waved her left hand at them a little.

"Not this one." she said sarcastically, as if the wave hadn't been enough to tell them which hand hurt. Besides, her other hand was stuck underneath her so thinking back on it, it was pretty obvious which one she'd injured.

"Okay." Santana started. "I'm gonna try and move this arm from underneath you, kay? See if I can get a look at your hand."

Quinn nodded and so did Puck. Santana's parents were both doctors so they figured she knew what she was doing.

Santana began moving Quinn's trapped arm gently and Quinn squeezed her eyes shut. She cried out in pain as Santana pulled a little harder and Puck saw a tear roll down her cheek.

"Sorry honey! I'm sorry." Santana said quickly as she continued to move Quinn's arm.

Quinn whimpered quietly and Puck stroked her face, whispering to her that it would be okay.

One last movement and one more cry of pain and Quinn's arm was free. Santana held it gently, studying Quinn's hand.

"I think your little fingers broken, Q. And your wrist is sprained pretty bad but I don't think it's snapped."

"Kay." Quinn said quietly, sniffling a little. She wiped her damp eyes with her good hand.

The other Cheerio's sighed with relief. At least they wouldn't have to do without their head cheerleader for too long.

"The ambulance is on its way." Sam declared from somewhere behind them and Puck turned round to smile at him appreciatively but to be honest he was just glad Quinn was okay.

When the paramedics arrived they confirmed Santana's diagnosis of a broken pinkie and badly sprained wrist along with a possible concussion. And then Quinn turned that "possible concussion" into a definite one when she puked her lunch up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

She threw up again when they strapped up her hand because they had to put a needle in it first. Quinn was not a fan of needles. And neither was Puck because it meant he got Quinn puke all over his jeans.

But he didn't really care. Quinn was okay and that was all that mattered. He just hoped that same scenario would be the case today.

"Yeah!" Finn said, bringing Puck's thoughts back to the present. "She fell like 10 feet and all she got was a broken pinkie finger and a head ache."

"Exactly!" Rachel chimed in. "She's a fighter Puck, she'll be okay."

Puck nodded, trying his best to take some of their optimism on board. It wasn't really working.

Just then a door opposite the seated glee club opened and a nurse dressed in blue scrubs stepped out. Puck stood up, quickly followed by Santana, Finn and Rachel.

"Is she okay?" Santana asked, her voice demanding.

The nurse nodded and Puck finally remembered to breathe. Beth let out a little gurgle and Rachel flashed a relieved smile at a pale looking Finn.

"She's stable. She's out of surgery and in the recovery room." The nurse said.

"Oh thank God." Santana breathed, turning around to hug Brittany.

Puck, on the other hand, wasn't convinced. He'd been studying the nurse's face and something wasn't right. He knew it.

"What?" Puck said. "What is it you're not telling us?"

The others gave him some confused sideways glances, especially Santana who was practically glaring at him for ruining the good news.

"Miss Fabray is in a very critical condition. She lost a lot of blood internally, her kidneys are failing. The shutdown of her other organs is a possibility…" The nurse made a sweeping glance of the worried teenagers, her eyes lingering a little longer on the mohawked boy and blonde child he cradled in his arms.

"…the next 24 hours will be critical. If she doesn't improve tonight then I'm afraid-"

Santana cut her off, hands on hips.

"Are you saying she's gonna die? Because where I'm from, nurses don't tend to know much about actual medical situations. They just collect piss in pots and stick needles in old people, right?" The Latina barked at the nervous looking nurse.

"San." Brittany said, putting a hand on Santana's shoulder.

"No Britt." Santana shrugged out of her touch. "She can't just say that! She hasn't got the authority! She's a fuckin' nurse! We need a doctor…Puck, tell her we need a doctor!" She yelled, hot tears spilling from her eyes and her voice cracking. She looked at Puck, a helpless pleading set in her features.

Puck said nothing, just stared straight ahead. A doctor wouldn't change anything, he knew that. And he knew Santana knew that too.

"Puck!" She pleaded again before Brittany led the broken Latina back to their seats and cradled her like Puck had cradled Beth a few minutes before.

"I'm very sorry." The nurse said quietly. "I'm just trying to prepare you."

Puck nodded and the nurse turned to go back through the door.

"Wait!" He called, stopping the nurse in her tracks. "Can we see her?"

"Yes."

Everyone stepped forward before the nurse held up her hand.

"Not all at once, no more than two at time." And with that she disappeared back though the door.

For a few seconds they stood in silence, each person contemplating their next move. Wondering what was acceptable to say and what wasn't. Santana had regained her mind and was chewing nervously on her lip. Rachel was squeezing Finn's hand and Beth stared up at her father with wide eyes.

"Puck should go first…with Beth." Rachel's soft voice cut through the heavy silence. The rest of them murmured in agreement but Puck shook his head.

"Not yet…I gotta go change Beth." He lied. "You guys can go first."

The others eyed each other suspiciously.

"Well, I can take care of Beth if you want Noah…" Rachel offered but Puck dismissed the idea.

"I got it." He said, grabbing the pink bag and stalking off down the corridor, not having a clue where the bathroom was or even if Beth needed changing. All he knew was that he needed a minute alone with his daughter to gather his thoughts and prepare them both for the worst, because despite how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, he knew the worst was still to come.

He eventually came across a clean looking bathroom and went inside. He placed Beth on the counter and for the first time since they'd arrived, he felt his eyes prick with sharp tears and it took all his effort to keep them from falling. He refused to cry in front of his daughter. Not yet, there was no need.

Meanwhile, back on the ICU, the other glee club members had returned and had been filled in and now the noisy group was busy debating who should go and see Quinn first, if any of them. Most of them felt uncomfortable about going in before Puck, but they also knew that their arguing was only wasting the potentially limited time they had left with their friend.

"Well, let's try establishing who actually wants to go in to start with." Rachel suggested, raising her voice above the bickering group. "Those who do, raise your hands."

Santana scoffed. "We're 17, not 7, hobit. We're not gonna raise our hands like toddlers."

A couple of the others glanced nervously at each other, a little wary of the Latina, whom they could all see was struggling to hold it together, despite how much she was trying to hide it.

Rachel ignored the comment and was the first to raise her hand. Quinn was her friend and she wanted to see her, whether anyone else did wasn't really of her concern. But her actions led a few to follow suit.

Finn raised one hand and stuffed the other in his pocket, Brittany stuck her arm in the air and after a slight nudge from the blonde cheerleader, Santana sighed and lifted her hand. Rachel smiled sadly at their choice. Of course she was pleased that they cared enough about Quinn to see her, but the situation prevented any emotion other than sadness to really take over.

"What about you guys?" She turned to the others, whose heads were bowed slightly, Mercedes bit on her lip and Tina and Mike clasped hands tightly.

"You guys are closest to her." Mercedes said. "If we're running out of time, we think it's important that the people closest to her go in first." Tina, Mike and Artie nodded in agreement.

"I, on the other hand, have full faith that I will be seeing Miss Fabray in glee club sooner rather than later. She's strong." Kurt smiled, although a slight glitter of moisture was apparent in his blue eyes.

"Okay, I understand." Rachel said before turning to Santana and Brittany.

"You two should go first, you're her best friends." The small brunette said. Brittany nodded and glanced towards the entrance leading to the recovery room.

"Are you ready, San?" She asked quietly. The Latina nodded and the two girls disappeared through the door, leaving the safety of the bright corridor behind and walking into the unknown.

_**Thanks for reading!**_

_**Did you like this one? Want more flash backs? Ideas for new chapters?**_

_**Review and let me know!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! **

**Sorry for the seriously slow update, I had to wait for inspiration to strike for this one! But it finally struck, hence Chapter 6 :D**

**Enjoy! And thank you so much to those who already read and reviewed, it really does mean the world to me :')**

As the girls stepped into a much smaller corridor, they almost walked smack into the small nurse that Santana had so tastefully verbally abused just a few minutes earlier. The Latina averted her eyes a little sheepishly as Brittany explained to the woman (in much greater depth than necessary) how they had been voted by their friends to see Quinn first.

The nurse listened attentively as Brittany rambled sweetly and Santana chewed on her lip, growing more anxious by the second. She wasn't sure if it was because she was about to go and see her critically injured friend for what could possibly be the last time or because the woman whom she had insulted so crudely was now making an effort to listen politely to her girlfriend. Maybe it was both.

By the time she drifted back from her own thoughts, the girls found themselves being led around a corner before coming to a stop outside a room with a door that was slightly ajar and a large window. The blind was down.

"Go in quietly, be careful of the wires." The nurse instructed kindly before smiling and disappearing back around the corner, leaving the girls alone.

Brittany pushed the door open and took Santana's hand. The brunette didn't move, she couldn't seem to get her brain to communicate with her legs. Her heart beat hard in her chest. Brittany turned to look at her.

"Come on." She smiled softly at the Latina, tugging on her hand a little.

Santana shook her head quickly.

"Britt, I don't think I can." She admitted in a barely audible whisper.

Brittany's brow creased a little as she took Santana's other hand in hers.

"It's okay, San." She whispered. "It's just Quinn, it's okay."

They stared at each other for a minute, blue to brown, and Santana tried to pull herself together. She took a few deep breaths and felt her hammering heart relax a little.

"Ready?" Brittany asked.

Santana nodded and with that they entered the room together, fingers locked tightly.

The first thing Santana noticed was the machines. Holy shit, there were a lot of machines in here. All beeping and buzzing at different times, flashing lights twinkled in every corner of the room and wires were draped across the floor and tangled around the sides of the bed.

And in the middle of it all, all the chaos, was Quinn. Lying still, she looked the same as she always did, blonde hair splayed out on the white pillow beneath her head, pink lips set in an almost pout. Santana let out a little gasp and Brittany squeezed her hand a little tighter.

"Can she hear us?" Santana asked quietly, turning towards the nurse who still hovering in the doorway.

The nurse stared at the brunette standing before her, assessing the worry in her dark eyes. She could see that she was being deeply affected by the events unfolding around her, but she could also see that she was not the kind of girl who would appreciate being lied to.

"We don't know, honey." The nurse said honestly.

Santana dropped her eyes to the floor, blinking back tears that were threatening to spill over once again.

"But if she can," The nurse continued "I'm sure she'd love for you to talk to her."

Santana glanced back towards Quinn's still body and nodded. She heard the nurse leave.

The two girls stood in silence for a few seconds, hand in hand, trying to figure out how to manage the horrific situation they had suddenly found themselves thrown into. Neither of them had any experience with these types of things, they'd never had to comprehend losing someone this close to them. Brittany had never even set foot in a hospital before.

"Hi Quinn." Brittany said in a smooth, soft voice that Santana knew she wouldn't be able to replicate, even if she wanted to. If she opened her mouth, the quiver in her tone would betray the tough exterior she was trying so hard to keep intact. She'd cried enough today already.

"Say hi to Quinn, Santana." Brittany said brightly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

For a second, the Latina couldn't quite comprehend the request. Didn't Brittany get it? It wasn't like Quinn was gonna answer back, or be offended because she hadn't greeted her. She'd almost made up her mind to remain silent when she made the mistake of looking up at Brittany through her lashes. The blonde's blue eyes held hers, whispering a silent plea for her to go along with it. She knew what Brittany was trying to say;

_Don't make this harder than it already is._

With this in mind, she cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"Hey Q." It was barely audible above the noise from the machines but she'd said it and Brittany was happy. That's all that mattered.

With the ice broken, Brittany launched into a one sided conversation with the other blonde cheerleader about Lord Tubbington and cigarettes and something about hot melted cheese. Her light hearted chatter lifted the mood of the strange room, and for a few moments Santana found herself smiling at her friend's incredible ability to make people happy with nothing more than a few badly told stories.

But as the nurse re-entered the little room and began fiddling with various wires attached to Quinn's body, the reality of the situation hit home once again and the Latina's momentarily lightened heart sank back into a place so dark she was scared she wouldn't be able to get it back again.

Her legs felt heavy beneath her and as the nurse left the room once again, Santana found herself perched on the edge of Quinn's bed, the blonde girl's cold hand wrapped tightly in her own. She cleared her throat once again, suddenly all too aware of the dwindling time she might have left to speak to her friend. Brittany stopped her chatter and stood behind her. That was another thing about Brittany, she always knew when to stop. And right now she knew it was Santana's turn to talk.

Taking a deep breath, Santana lent forward and brushed a stray strand of blonde from Quinn's cheek.

"Hey Q, it's me. San." She paused, waiting for the response that she knew would never come.

She looked back to Brittany for help, but the blonde just nodded encouragingly at her, kindness and a knowing sympathy in her eyes. She knew how hard this was for Santana, she and Quinn had been best friends for as long as she could remember.

"Why don't you tell the story about you and Quinn?" Brittany offered.

"Huh?"

"The story! The one about how you and Quinn became friends!" Brittany exclaimed.

The request caught Santana by surprise, she really wasn't very good at telling stories…but she couldn't think of anything else to say so…

"Well…you remember the first day of school, right Britt?"

Brittany nodded enthusiastically, she liked this story.

_A six year old Santana Lopez stood with her arms folded and a scowl firmly set on her face. It was her first day and she already didn't like school, there were too many people telling her what she could and couldn't do and she didn't like it._

_The fact that she knew absolutely no-one was not helping matters. Everyone else had already been to Kindergarten together and here she was, stood alone with no one to even share her new set of colouring pencils with._

_She glanced around the room full of children. Everyone was playing happily, some at the painting area, others over at the building block station. She sighed as her gaze settled on the only girl at the colouring table. She was pretty, Santana thought. Her blonde hair fell just past her shoulders, and a white ribbon was tied neatly at the back, matching her dress. Maybe she'd want to share her colouring pencils._

_Santana wondered slowly in the direction of the girl, whose tongue was now poked out in a moment of intense concentration for whatever it was she was working on. _

_Upon arriving at the table, Santana pulled out and climbed onto the seat opposite the blonde girl with the pretty hair._

"_Watcha drawing?" Santana asked, he voice loud with confidence. Despite only being six years old, shyness had never been a problem for the little Latina. Talking was what she did best._

_The blonde girl looked up from her page, a slight curious frown on her face. The two girls were quiet for a few seconds, studying each other, figuring one another out._

_Santana watched as the blonde girl's hazel eyes relaxed and a small smile twitched at the corners of her lips._

"_A princess." The blonde girl said with a slight lisp which Santana quickly realised had been caused by the absence of her two front teeth._

"_Oh." Santana said. She didn't really like princesses and all that girly stuff. "Wanna use my colours?"_

_The blonde girl blinked again, looking a little surprised before politely accepting the offer. Santana dug the pencils out of her bag and emptied the pack onto the table between them. The blonde girl picked up a pretty shade of pink and the two girls beamed at each other, both glad of someone to talk to._

"_What's your name?" Santana asked, picking up her own sheet of paper and getting to work on some awesome patterns._

"_Quinn." The blonde girl said in her pretty, girly voice._

"_That's weird." Santana said nonchalantly, she'd never heard the name Quinn before. _

_Quinn pouted a little, a crease forming between her eyebrows._

"_Well, what's your name then?" She demanded with more force than Santana had first thought her capable of._

"_Santana." The Latina said, replicating Quinn's frown on her own pretty features._

"_That's weird too." Quinn said, poking out her tongue at the brunette._

_Santana shrugged, she didn't care what people thought. But she liked this girl, she liked her pretty dress and her blonde hair. She liked that she wasn't too stuck up to stick her tongue out. Maybe they could be friends._

"_Wanna be weird together?" Santana asked, watching the blonde girl carefully shading in the princesses dress with the pink pencil._

_Quinn glanced up, her pencil still on the page, and eyed the Latina suspiciously for a second. Could they be friends? She liked the girl with the dark hair. She was pretty and loud and had good colours. _

"_Okay." Quinn shrugged with a toothless smile._

"_Cool." Santana returned the smile before going back to her colouring._

_From then on, the two girls coloured together every day. Santana would bring her pencils and Quinn would tell silly stories and hum silly songs while they worked on whatever it was they felt like drawing that day. They didn't speak much, they didn't need to. They just liked being in each others company. Yes, sometimes they'd argue but they'd always make up in the end. _

_Always._

Santana sighed and lent her head against Brittany's who'd managed to squish onto the bed beside her.

"Are you happy now, Britt?" Santana smiled and she felt Brittany's head nod against her.

She turned her attention back to Quinn.

"You got all that right, Q?" She squeezed the unconscious blonde's hand a little tighter. "You know we've gotta be friends forever, right? And that means you can't leave us, okay? It's against the rules. You can't break up the unholy trinity, you understand?"

She felt her eyes fill up again as her voice cracked on the last part of the sentence. She blinked hard to prevent the moisture from spilling over again.

Brittany wrapped her arms around the Latina's waist and held her close.

Just then there was a knock at the door and both girls turned, a little startled, to see the nurse entering the room again, this time with another nurse and a man whom they presumed was some sort of doctor.

"Sorry girls," The nurse said kindly "We need to run a few tests on Miss Fabray-"

Santana stood up, cutting her off.

"It's okay, we were just leaving anyway." She said quickly, grabbing Brittany's hand and pulling her to her feet.

The nurse nodded with a sad smile.

The two girls turned back to Quinn, taking in their friend for what they knew might be the last time.

"Bye Quinn," Brittany said softly. "We'll see you later."

Santana winced at the false promise, but she didn't say anything for the fear of ruining Brittany's optimism.

"Stay strong, Q." Santana whispered as a lone tear escaped despite her efforts and made a sad decent down her cheek. She brushed it away with the back of her hand before turning from Quinn for the last time and leading Brittany out of the room.

This was it, Santana thought as the door closed behind them. No matter how she and everyone else tried to convince her otherwise, she couldn't bring herself to believe that things would be okay when she was almost certain they wouldn't.

They were done, the unholy trinity, the three best friends, whatever they were.

It was over.

**Okay, so what did y'all think? Love, hate? Let me know!**

**And also, a few of you have said that you don't want Quinn to die so what do you think about me writing an alternate ending where Quinn lives after I'm done with this version? **

**Let me know and if you have any other ideas about what you'd like to see happen, either review and let me know or send me a PM **

**Much love x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys!**

**A speedy update this time to make up for the time I made you wait for the last one :D**

**Just a quick note to say, for this chapter I kind ignored the whole 'giving Beth up' possibility and went with the idea that Puck and Quinn were very much together as a couple when Beth was born.**

**Enjoy!**

Puck didn't know how long they'd been gone, he'd never thought to glance at his watch as he'd wandered aimlessly around the hospital corridors carrying a quiet Beth on his hip and trying to gather his thoughts.

He knew they needed to get back and see Quinn. He knew it should have been them that had gone in first but he hadn't been ready.

He wasn't afraid of what he might see or how he might feel. He was just scared that if they went and saw Quinn now, it might be the last time they did, which was exactly why he'd been wasting precious time and avoiding the ICU for as long as possible.

Beth gurgled a little as he switched her position a little to save his one arm from going dead and he kissed her blonde curls softly as they rounded a corner and entered yet another white hallway.

Glancing up, the arrowed sign swinging from the ceiling caught Puck's eye.

"Maternity ward," He whispered to himself, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he remembered the last time they'd been here.

"_Careful with her head Puck, put your hand behind her neck." Quinn instructed from her hospital bed as she tied her sleep mussed hair in a messy pony and pulled her pink gown a little tighter around her._

"_Like this?" Puck asked, carefully placing his hand where Quinn had told him to and shifting his tiny daughter a little closer to him._

"_Perfect." Quinn smiled, watching Puck gazing down at their daughter. She was so tiny, like a doll almost and she didn't think she'd ever seen Puck be quite so gentle with anything in his life before. He was going to be the best dad._

_Puck nodded, his eyes locked on the delicate creature that slept so peacefully in his arms and he felt his eyes filling up for what must have been the one hundredth time that day._

_She was just so perfect! At only six hours old, Puck could already see how much she looked like her mother. The same shade of blonde covered her small head, twisting into silky soft curls at the nape of her neck. Her lips were set in the same, rosebud shaped pout that Quinn's fell into when she slept and on the rare occasion that their daughter had opened her eyes, both parents were shocked to see that her irises had skipped the 'baby blue' stage and were already an exact colour replica of her mothers._

"_You're so beautiful." He murmured as he planted a soft kiss on his daughter's warm forehead and took a few careful steps towards the bed._

"_And so is your momma." He smiled, leaning down and catching Quinn's lips with his for a sweet, gentle kiss which Quinn returned just as willingly._

_They stayed like that for a few seconds, the three of them locked in an embrace held together by a love so strong it would be almost impossible to break. Almost. A sudden high pitched wail from the pink bundle in Puck's arms had them both jumping back from each other, the silence shattered._

_Quinn giggled._

"_What's up baby? Isn't daddy giving you enough attention?" She grinned up at Puck who rolled his eyes playfully, rocking the now gurgling baby softly from side to side._

"_I think this little one's going to be a handful." Quinn smiled, watching their little girl squirm and wriggle, desperate for some sort of response from her father._

"_She's a Puckerman babe, what did you expect?" Puck winked before tickling Beth under her tiny chin which earned him another wail and a little gurgle. He thought for a minute._

"_You're cool with her being a Puckerman aren't you, Q? I mean I'd understand if you wanted Fabray-"_

_She shook her head, cutting him off._

"_No, she's a Puckerman, Noah." She smiled, looking up at him from under her lashes._

_Puck beamed._

"_Beth Puckerman." He murmured._

"_Elizabeth." Quinn corrected, though she didn't really mind the shortened version. "What about middle name?" She asked, stoking her daughters head as Puck perched on the bed next to her._

"_Quinn." Puck said without pause, he'd already thought this one through._

_Quinn blinked, a little taken back by his suggestion. She thought maybe Puck had something in mind, but not that!_

"_What? Why?" She asked, a slight frown forming between her eyebrows._

"_Because," Puck shrugged, "I want her to know how much her mom means to me. Naming her after you will always remind her that the two of you are the most precious thing in the world to me. I don't ever want her to forget that, whatever happens."_

_He glanced at Quinn and noticed that now it was her turn to blink back the tears._

"_Thank you." She whispered, resting her forehead against his, his warm breath tickling her nose._

"_No babe, thank you." He said._

"_For what?"_

"_For Beth, for us, for everything."_

"Excuse me, Sir?" A deep voice cut through his daydream and bought him crashing back to reality so quickly that he gasped loudly before swallowing hard and trying to regain focus.

"Are you waiting for someone?" The voice, which he now realised belonged to a kindly looking doctor with silver hair and warm eyes.

He shook his head.

"No," he said firmly, taking a deep breath. "She's waiting for me."

And with that, he turned on his heel and marched swiftly back through the endless hospital corridors, searching for the one that would lead him to the girl who was waiting. Waiting for him to come, waiting for him to be strong.

When he finally laid eyes on the ICU sigh, it took all he had to stop himself from breaking into a jog. He didn't want to waste any more time. Quinn needed him.

Pushing the final doors that led to the right place open, he let out a quiet sigh of relief, glad to have finally found it.

In his absence, the rest of the glee club had stayed loyal to their friends and were still waiting patiently for his return. After Santana and Brittany had returned, looking dazed and puffy eyed (Santana especially) the other decided that no more of them would take their turn until Puck and Beth had theirs. It was important to them that Quinn's family spent as much time with her as possible and none of them had wanted to prevent that.

Their quiet chatter silenced as puck entered the hallway, a determined look in his eyes and his shoulders squared as if ready for battle.

"Puck." Rachel smiled, having spent the past hour worrying that he'd done a runner.

"How're you holding up, dude?" Finn asked, standing to put a comforting hand on his friends shoulder.

"Okay," Puck said flatly. "We're okay."

The others nodded, still a little wary of Puck, unsure of how he was coping, if he was coping at all.

Puck cleared his throat.

"Did, uh, did you guys go in already?" he asked, running his free hand through is Mohawk.

"We did." Santana said from her seat, gesturing to herself and Brittany. "But then we thought we should wait for you." She said quietly, trying to assess what his reaction would be.

All he did was nod.

"She's just through those doors." Rachel offered kindly, sensing that this was what they'd been waiting for. Puck was ready to take his turn.

Puck nodded again, before placing a struggling Beth on the floor. Being 11 months old, Beth had a new found love for walking despite not being the best at it, but she didn't seem to mind. She'd happily toddle around for ten minutes at a time and Puck was happy to let her if it meant saving his arms.

But still, he took her small hand in his to help her keep her balance. She gurgled happily, pointing at the door Rachel had pointed out.

Puck didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Beth wanted her momma.

"Come on kid, let's go find her." He said, pushing the door open and leading Beth inside.

The rest of the glee club watched in silence until the pair were out of sight and even then, the feeling of pity and fear hung heavily in the air.

They were all thinking the same thing.

If the worst came to worst, would he be able to do it? Bring up a child alone?

Only time would tell.

**Okay, there you go!**

**Did you like it? Review and let me know!**

**And regarding the flashbacks, do you want more? Maybe a chapter dedicated to flashbacks only? Let me know! **

**Anyways, I shall be updating soon with Chapter 8 in which Puck will take his turn with Quinn so stay tuned!**

**Much love x**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, another update for you!**

**Enjoy!**

Puck sat quietly on the edge of the bed, watching Beth's chest rise and fall in unison with her mothers. They'd been in the strange room with all it's beeping machines for a while now and when Beth had grown tired again, he'd asked the kindly looking nurse if it was okay for his daughter to sleep next to her mom.

Of course, upon seeing the desperation and hidden pain in the young father's warm eyes, the nurse had agreed. After all, who was she to deny that little girl time with her mother, especially since their remaining time together would most probably be painfully short.

Puck had thanked the nurse and scooted Beth off of his knees and onto the white sheets. Once again he'd found himself blinking back hot tears as Beth had taken one look at Quinn's sleeping form and immediately curled herself up against her, clenching a fistful of blue hospital gown in her tiny fingers.

He'd stroked her hair and hummed soft lullaby's until her sleepy hazel eyes had fallen shut and her breath became soft and even.

Only then did he allow himself to cry.

Not hysterically, no sobbing or sound. Just a few silent tears that escaped the walls he'd already begun to build around himself. He moved on to the chair next to the bed and rested his head in his hands, feeling the droplets of moisture soak into his warm palms.

A thousand scenarios ran through his overactive mind, images of him and Beth alone and confused with no one but each other to turn to plagued his thoughts and before he knew what he was doing, he found himself sending up silent prayers to anyone who might be listening.

_Don't take her. Let her be okay. Don't leave us here alone._

He didn't know what good they'd do, and he didn't care. He just needed to do _something_. Sitting in this room, knowing what was coming and not being able to do anything about it was making him feel so helpless he almost couldn't stand it.

Because he did know. A feeling deep inside his chest knew exactly what lay ahead for him and the little girl who lay dreaming just a short distance away, it was like his heart was already preparing him.

A louder beep from a machine made him lift his head and he glanced around nervously, checking for any signs that Quinn wasn't okay but everything seemed normal as the sound became a hushed background noise once more.

Sighing, he wiped the moisture from his face, knowing that his tears were not helping anybody. Quinn least of all.

This time they were spending with her was important, perhaps the most important time they would ever spend together. He knew he should make the most of it.

He stood up, arching his back in a half-hearted stretch before circling the bed and standing beside Quinn, taking the hand that Beth hadn't already claimed. He laced their fingers together and brought them gently to his lips, placing soft kisses on every one of her perfect fingers, each decorated with an undamaged coat of pale pink polish.

"I like this colour on you." He smiled, stroking one of the smooth nails with his thumb. His words caused Beth to stir a little and he reached over to touch one of her hands too.

"Don't worry Bee, it looks super cute on you too." He murmured with a slight smirk because, of course, Beth's petite nails were decorated with the same shade. Beth loved Quinn to paint her nails, it was their 'girl thing' as Quinn called it.

"My girls." Puck whispered, giving Quinn's hand a squeeze.

He waited for a moment, willing her to squeeze back. He knew she wouldn't but that didn't mean he couldn't try.

Beth stirred again then, her eyes fluttering open to reveal the familiar shade of her hazel irises. She smiled sleepily at Puck who took her hand and helped her to sit up.

"Come here, baby girl." He said, leaning over and lifting Beth into his arms, holding her close to his chest and breathing in her sweet smell of vanilla and milk and innocence. The little girl wrapped her arms around his neck and they held each other, comforting one another.

_She knows,_ Puck thought as Beth lifted her head and stared up at him with big, sad eyes before turning to look at Quinn. That hurt him more than anything, the fact that Beth, despite her young age, was more aware of what was happening than he would like her to be. He wanted to protect her from it, keep her heart safe and keep her from hurting but the sad little sigh she gave let him know that that was impossible.

Knowing that this would hurt Beth? Well that just about killed Puck himself.

"We'll be okay, Bee." He whispered into her hair. "I promise."

He was speaking like she'd already gone, he knew that and he knew it was wrong but he couldn't help it. Everything just seemed so helpless. He'd heard the nurses talking outside the room, their hushed tones not quite hushed enough. He'd picked up the odd word and it didn't sound good.

_Liver failure, internal bleeding, matter of time._

He wasn't stupid. He knew how bad this was, the doctors would be surprised if she made it through the night.

He shook his head, still not quite believing that this was happening to _them_. He wished with all his heart that it wasn't but what could he do? There was no point in giving himself false hope, no point in telling himself that everything would be okay. It wouldn't, anyone could see that.

He knew that the others felt the same. What with Santana and all her crying and yelling, Rachel already stepping in to help out in the absence of Beth's mother figure. They were all preparing themselves for what they were almost certain was coming their way.

A sudden, frantic beeping started up then, making both Puck and Beth jump a little. Beth tore her gaze away from her mother to look at Puck, her eyes huge and round and full of the kind a fear a child so small shouldn't even be capable of feeling. Puck stared back, unable to move, because it was happening. This was it.

A team of nurses burst through the door, talking quickly to one another from behind their masks and within a matter of seconds, they'd swarmed the bed where Quinn lay and proceeded to poke and prod her, sticking things in her arms and fiddling with buttons on numerous machines.

By this time, Puck and Beth had been pushed up against the wall furthest from the bed and in her panic, Beth had begun to scream, hot tears spilling down her flushed cheeks as she reached desperately towards where her mother lay but her cries barely registered with Puck. All he could do was watch.

He ran a hand through his mohawk, trying desperately to figure out what to do. He couldn't help Quinn, no matter how much he wanted to, and all though it broke his heart to think it, Beth was his main priority right now.

Anything he could do now to prevent her from hurting later was essential. With this in mind, he regained focus of the wriggling, screaming child in his arms and restrained her arms as gently as he could to stop them from flailing madly.

She squealed and kicked her legs, trying desperately to free herself from her father's grip but Puck held on to her, finally managing to turn her around so that she was crying into his shoulder. He didn't want her to see this.

He kept a hand on the back of her head as she sobbed and he looked on, watching as the doctor, looking stressed and perhaps a little flushed as he demanded that everyone 'stand clear.'

Puck knew what that meant and before he could stop himself he flung his body, and Beth, towards the bed, shouting obscenities as he did.

"QUINN!" He yelled, losing all sense of the self-control he'd had a few minutes ago. "You have to help her!" he was crying now, despite how hard he tried not to, the tears rushed down his cheeks in his mad fury.

"Someone take them out!" A voice demanded, but the masks made it hard for Puck to work out exactly where it came from.

"No!" He yelled over a screaming Beth who had once again managed to turn herself around and was kicking furiously and pointing towards Quinn.

Suddenly there was a hand on his arm, and at first he thought it was a nurse coming to remove him but he turned to see Santana, eyes filled with tears but lips set in a hard line.

"Stand clear!" The doctor said again and as Puck lurched forward and shouted some other plea, Santana managed to pry Beth from his arms despite the kicking and screaming, and she cradled the little girl close to her chest just before Finn, who'd followed Santana as she'd leapt up from her seat upon hearing Beth's cries from the waiting room, put his hands on Puck's shoulders and managed to drag him from the room just as a loud, high pitched beep fill their ears and they heard the doctor shout 'one more time!' at the flurry of nurses who were trying so desperately to keep Quinn Fabray's feeble heart beating.

Out in the hallway, the noise silenced by the closed door, Puck sank to ground with his head in his hands and quiet sobs racking his body.

He couldn't think straight, his blood pounding too loudly in his ears to do anything but cry.

He was vaguely aware of his daughter's wails in the background as Santana rocked her gently, trying to calm her hysterical tears and he knew Finn was close by, on the floor next to him maybe.

His thoughts were confirmed when he felt a pair of oversized arms engulf him and pull him close, and with all inhibitions forgotten he let himself be held.

They stayed like that for a good ten minutes, no one saying a word. Beth's sobs had turned to soft whimpers as Santana stroked her hair gently and occasionally murmured sweetly into the child's ear, comforting her further.

The door to Quinn's room opened slowly and Puck raised his head, looking with expectant eyes towards the doctor who stepped out into the hallway, removing his mask as he did.

Puck held his breath, Santana and Finn too and Beth silenced immediately, her eyes wide.

The doctor cleared his throat.

"I'm very sorry," He said quietly. "There was nothing more we could do."

**There you go, a sad one this time so sorry about that!**

**Review and let me know what you thought!**

**And thank you for your continued support in reading this story and thank you so much for the sweet reviews! They're my inspiration to keep writing :')**

**Stay tuned to see how Puck, Beth and the Glee club deal with their loss!**

**Much love x**


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